Davidson reveals St Johnstone disappointment despite draw

St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson admits his players are disappointed only to come away from their Europa Conference League play-off first leg with a draw – but says the stage is set for a huge night in Perth next week.

Chris Kane gave Saints the lead in Austria against LASK but the Bundesliga side equalised from the spot just after the hour mark.

The cup double winners created a number of chances and were the better side for the majority of the game but the tie will now be decided at McDairmid Park with the winner on the night going through to the group stages of the competition.

Davidson was pleased with his side’s performance, seeing his players revel in their underdog status yet again, but said that the players were disappointed not to be taking an advantage back to Scotland.

“They believe in themselves,” he said. “They are all disappointed in the dressing toom with conceding the penalty, and probably the last five minutes. But that sums them up, where their mindset is just now.

“For St Johnstone to come away probably slightly disappointed with a draw, it shows the expectations and how we performed.

“I was absolutely delighted. If you asked me to go and play LASK with their European pedigree and come away with a draw and give ourselves a chance to qualify for the league, then I would have taken it.

“They followed the game plan, they were brilliant, tried to play the right away. Probably being critical, we could have transitioned the ball a bit better, but that’s me being critical.”

Now the manager is hoping for another sell-out crowd at home to roar his side through the make-or-break match.

“We will have a great atmosphere again at McDiarmid, we got a full house last time,” he said.

“To qualify for this league is probably as big a game as St Johnstone have had in their history, so it’s an enormous game.

“The people of Perth, they missed out on two cup finals last season, and to be fair this is a cup final for us on Thursday.”